BETHESDA, MD / ACCESS Newswire / September 11, 2025 / Lunai Bioworks Inc.'s (NASDAQ:RENB) wholly-owned subsidiary BioSymetrics Inc. today announced the award of a prestigious Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The funding, awarded jointly to BioSymetrics and Brigham and Women's Hospital, will support the development of a novel platform that combines artificial intelligence and in vivo zebrafish screening to accelerate drug discovery for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), a disease affecting more than 19 million Americans and substantially contributing to the development of both oncologic and neurologic disorders.
The grant is a fast-tracked Phase I and Phase II application awarded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) with a total value of $1.85M USD, contingent upon determination that the Phase I milestones were achieved.
The joint program, co-led by Dr. Calum MacRae, Vice Chair for Scientific Innovation at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, will unite expertise in AI-driven behavioral phenotyping with large-scale drug screening models.
"Despite its prevalence, AUD remains critically underserved in terms of therapeutic innovation," said Dr. Gabe Musso, Chief Scientific Officer at BioSymetrics. "This STTR award allows us to build on our AI-based behavioral screening platform and extend its impact to a space where there is urgent unmet need. We're excited to work alongside Dr. MacRae and his team to translate complex phenotypic insights into actionable drug candidates."
The platform will integrate BioSymetrics' proprietary machine learning tools with experimental phenotyping capabilities developed in Dr. MacRae's lab. The project aims to deliver both a scalable discovery engine for AUD as well as novel small molecules that could form the basis for future therapies.
"This collaboration represents the convergence of two longstanding commitments: to advance precision therapeutics and to reimagine how we model and treat complex human diseases," said Dr. Calum MacRae. "Our work in zebrafish has already transformed understanding of cardiovascular and neurological diseases, this grant allows us to bring the same rigor and creativity to the treatment of addiction."
Lunai Bioworks's subsidiary, BioSymetrics is a biomedical AI company focused on creating scalable frameworks for data-driven therapeutic discovery pioneering AI-powered platforms for precision neurology and other high-burden diseases. BioSymetrics contributes core data science infrastructure to Lunai's broader mission.
"This is a natural extension of Lunai's approach where we are harnessing AI and in vivo biology to identify therapies faster, with greater precision, and in areas of profound clinical need," said David Weinstein, CEO of Lunai Bioworks.
The project also reflects a key strategic priority for Lunai: using AI to accelerate early-stage discovery while ensuring that translational tools remain tied to measurable, real-world phenotypes.
About Lunai Bioworks
Lunai Bioworks Inc. is an AI-powered drug discovery and biodefense company pioneering safe and responsible generative biology. With proprietary neurotoxicity datasets, advanced machine learning, and a focus on dual-use risk management, Lunai is redefining how artificial intelligence can accelerate therapeutic innovation while safeguarding society from emerging threats.
Media Contact:
David Weinstein
Chief Executive Officer
investors@renovaro.com
www.renovarogroup.com
SOURCE: Lunai Bioworks Inc.
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/biotechnology/lunai-bioworks-subsidiary-biosymetrics-and-brigham-and-women%e2%80%99s-hospital-awarded-nih-s-1071666
